Timbarra Primary School teacher Jessica Mills practises CPR at a first-aid training day at the school.By Callan Date
PARENTS send their children to school every day with the knowledge they will be safe, and the students at Timbarra Primary School couldn’t be in better hands.
That’s because more than 40 staff members at the school have undergone cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first-aid training to make sure they know what to do in the event of an emergency.
The training took place during a first-aid session run by the Metropolitan Ambulance Service a fortnight ago and resulted in staff being equipped with the potentially life-saving skill.
Timbarra Primary School principal Jan Adamson said the emphasis on student wellbeing was a high priority at the school and it was a key part of its charter.
“It’s that old adage where you never want to have to put the training into practice, but if something was to happen you would know how to react,” she said.
With 550 students attending Timbarra Primary School, some of whom have various medical conditions, Ms Adamson said having almost all her staff CPR-trained provided great peace of mind.
“Of our 43 staff members we had 41 take part, so that was a great turn-out,” she said.
CPR training is offered to future teachers studying at some universities, but the Timbarra principal said it would be beneficial if all education courses had first-aid as part of their program.
Ms Adamson said the school’s staff had attended the training in their own time and were really enthusiastic about learning all the components of first-aid.
“The response from the parents has also been great and they have been very supportive in knowing that their child’s teacher is first-aid trained,” she said.
